Chapter 26: Knife Against Knife

Within the space of thought, within the pitch-black prison.

This is a place that no one else’s will can reach.

This is a place where no rules can be established.

This is a path that no destiny can dictate!

Here, in a place without will, without rules, without fate, they are settling all their grudges!

“Aaaaaah!!!”

The two roared, pouring all their energy, strength, and even life into their hands; it was their very essence.

Without any scruples, without leaving any regrets, they simply follow their primal instincts and desires!

“kill!”

Yao Bingling roared, a completely different style of fighting from his past methods, a stark contrast to his previous calm and deadly approach, like that of a viper.

He was furious, enraged, like a mad bull, swinging his fists at the opponent’s head and body.

“Die!”

Similarly, Jinwu’s face, identical to Yao Bingling’s, erupted with intense madness and rage.

In the instant of impact, both fists felt as if they had struck each other, and both men were forced back several steps by the impact of the punches.

Their minds were so muddy that they felt like a swamp, and their information processing speed slowed down. However, this did not affect muscle memory or their initial goals.

Neither of them had time to react, nor even seen each other, before their bodies propelled them toward each other once more.

Halfway through, Yao Bingling regained a little bit of his strength, and he immediately rammed into the opponent, delivering a heavy punch that struck Jinwu in the forehead.

Jinwu felt as if half of his head had been blown off by this punch, and his brain was about to turn into a puddle of mush!

He fell backward immediately after the punch, and Yao Bingling landed and prepared to pursue, but he only took one step forward before his left rib was hit by a fierce kick.

Even as Jinwu was nearly knocked unconscious by the punch, he still managed to kick Yao Bingling solidly.

The kick was incredibly powerful. Yao Bingling even felt that half of his ribs was about to break. The excruciating pain, which was almost like his nerves were on fire, made him break out in a cold sweat!

But what good does that do? Will it make them stop?

cannot!

Jinwu immediately stood up straight, and Yao Bingling also took a deep breath to suppress the intense pain. The two, who were already close enough, wrestled together again!

Jinwu used his absolute speed advantage to strike Yao Bingling’s left cheek with a punch. The punch made Yao Bingling’s head tilt to the side, but Yao Bingling grabbed Jinwu’s hand and slammed Jinwu’s head into his face.

“oh!”

The pain in his nose and the sensation of bones breaking made Jinwu freeze. Yao Bingling immediately seized the opportunity and punched Jinwu in the temple. This punch would undoubtedly be fatal or knock out an ordinary person instantly, but it was far from enough for Jinwu. Naturally, Yao Bingling understood this as well. However, he knew that this punch would be enough to make his head spin for another two seconds!

It hurts!

Jinwu wasn’t the only one who felt this way; Yao Bingling also felt the reaction force transmitted from his fist. This feeling was no different from punching a steel plate. Jinwu immediately turned his head away, and his golden pupils began to dim for a moment!

Yao Bingling grabbed his head with both hands and pressed it down hard, his taut legs slamming his knee into his chin like a projectile launched from a projectile!

“Click”

A crisp sound rang out on Jinwu’s chin the instant he spat out blood and flew backward.

This wasn’t going to end. Yao Bingling immediately wanted to give chase, but suddenly the place started to shake, and the entire space of his consciousness underwent a large arc change.

Something flashed here, and the pitch-black space transformed into a rather familiar home.

“……This is?”

“Your house!” Jinwu, who should have fallen in front, suddenly appeared behind him and slammed down the object in his hand the moment Yao Bingling turned around!

The blow knocked Yao Bingling to the ground caused a slight blankness in his mind, and even his vision became somewhat blurred. However, the pain in his forehead, as if pricked by countless needles, allowed him to recover in the shortest possible time.

At this moment, Jinwu’s second attack arrived. It was a very fast kick, and the target was not his abdomen but his face!

With his hands pinned under his body as he fell, Yao Bingling was caught off guard by the opponent’s leg, which came so fast that he couldn’t even raise his hands to defend himself. He could only turn his head as far as he could in that instant.

“Ahh!”

Jinwu could feel the impact of his attack, and with Yao Bingling’s scream, he knew very well that the kid had experienced excruciating pain.

Yao Bingling was hit, that’s an indisputable fact. Given the distance and speed, there was no way to dodge it. All he could do was adjust his angle. Fortunately, he adjusted his angle correctly, and his head didn’t explode from Jinwu’s kick, but he was still in a lot of pain.

The opponent’s attack was hardly like a physical attack; it was more like the swing of some kind of bladed weapon, and Yao Bingling paid a heavy price for it.

He rolled away from the opponent’s attack range, half-crouching on the ground, supporting his body with one hand, while the other hand pressed tightly against his right ear. Even with his hand pressed down, he could not stop the blood from flowing continuously from between his fingers.

And through that gap, you could see that half of his ear had been sliced ​​off by Jinwu’s kick!

“The ears are where the most sensitive nerves are distributed in the human body… This must hurt a lot.”

Jinwu was panting, but his face showed undisguised pride and arrogance.

Yao Bingling was also panting. Although their battle was short, the two of them were attacking each other relentlessly. This was a projection of their consciousness, but it was also a real existence. The physical conditions of each other’s bodies were also completely reflected in their conscious bodies.

The surge of adrenaline has caused a temporary lack of stamina in both of them.

They were all recovering their condition as quickly as possible, and this recovery actually only took a few seconds.

“Let’s try something else.”

Jinwu laughed loudly. Although this was Yao Bingling’s consciousness space, Jinwu, whose spirit had been in common with Yao Bingling for ten years, could still make minor changes. The sudden scene change just now could only have been caused by Yao Bingling accidentally triggering it during their battle.

For example, a place where you can feel safe, or a place where you can quietly get rid of someone.

So this place will become his home, which is rarely visited except on Sundays, with no other scenes.

The space trembled slightly, the location remained unchanged, but the things in front of us changed.

arms……

Unlike modern technological weapons, this was an old-fashioned weapon stand, with a stone platform filled with weapons, all of which were cold weapons.

Furthermore, it is not a product of modern craftsmanship; the bronze blade and the anciently engraved hilt make it look like an antique with a history of several hundred years.

“I remember you were very skilled with a sword.”

As Jinwu spoke, he drew two long swords from the stone platform. They were two Han-style octagonal long swords, each about three feet and three inches long. Even in the past, such weapons would have been considered enormous. The correct way to use them was for one person to hold one sword with both hands.

But Jinwu held one sword in each hand, and the two swords clashed against each other, with bright sparks and sword blades bursting forth!

“You’re welcome.”

Yao Bingling remained silent, releasing his hand from his ear, which was covered in blood. Half of his ear was missing, and the barely visible pieces of flesh on the broken wound looked particularly gruesome.

He glanced at the table and reached out to draw a single-edged straight knife.

“Embroidered Spring Blade? What a surprise.”

The table disappeared, and even the guest table that had just occupied the table reappeared exactly where it was, as if the table had never existed… except for the weapons in their hands.

Jinwu’s hands hung naturally at his sides, the tips of his two longswords pointing diagonally to the ground. He appeared quite relaxed, but a master swordsman would immediately discern the subtlety in his gesture. The two swords pointing diagonally—this seemingly harmless stance—could be used in an instant as a counter-attack and defense. And it was undoubtedly a decisive blow!

And the tiny sparks that flew across the ground with his slight movements showed the force he was applying to the two swords.

Similarly, Yao Bingling dragged the knife with one hand, blade pointing downwards, the tip constantly drawing sparks on the ground. The muscles in his arm gripping the blade were visibly taut. The blade, which had initially bounced slightly due to the uneven ground, was now held upright, maintaining a neat and stable movement even though its blade had pierced an inch into the concrete.

“Clang~ Clang~ Clang~”

That was the sound of the clock in the home constructed by Yao Bingling’s consciousness space, and also the sound of two weapons colliding violently!

Yao Bingling was the first to launch an attack. He suddenly lunged at Jinwu while still dragging his blade. His speed was as agile as a cheetah, but the sparks from the blade dragging under his feet made him look like some kind of unrecorded, enraged beast.

But the fierceness and ferocity he displayed when he drew his sword were like a demon on the battlefield!

clang!

The mere clanging of metal from swords created a sonic shockwave that shattered all the windows in the room! Yao Bingling unleashed his first strike from the lower right to the upper left!

It was quite simple and unadorned, and people might even laugh at him for not knowing how to use a sword. But in fact, Yao Bingling made up for this simple and unadorned sword with his strength and speed. In the past, the first thing his father did before teaching him how to use a sword in actual combat was to make him swing the sword continuously, three thousand times each in the upper, middle and lower parts, nine thousand times a day, without any rest!

He only graduated when he could use these three swords at any time to slice a three-ton water buffalo in two.

Yao Bingling’s talent in this area is extraordinary. When he graduated, he not only killed a water buffalo, but he also cleaved the entire cargo box and the water buffalo inside in two before the truck carrying the buffalo had even released the huge buffalo!

Therefore, this strike was absolutely terrifying… and it should have been!

However, Jinwu’s twin swords, which had suddenly intertwined, accurately blocked Yao Bingling’s slash from below. Yet, there was no smugness on his face; instead, he appeared cautious and unfamiliar.

A powerful force erupted from the blade. The moment the blade was held in place, Yao Bingling gripped it with both hands. His muscles bulged violently as if injected with explosives, effectively pinning the two swords of the Golden Crow to the blade.

“Hiss~~~~~”

The sound of metal rubbing against metal was extremely sharp, and the high-decibel sound tormented their ears, but they acted as if they hadn’t heard it at all!

Despite Jinwu’s full effort to press down on the sword, Yao Bingling still managed to stop it. The downward-right slash broke through Jinwu’s blocking blade, and the immense force propelled all three weapons upwards towards the ceiling. The bursting sword energy sliced ​​through the ceiling, leaving three deep cuts above their heads.

Without any hesitation, Jinwu also violently overcame the inertia of the power from the sword Yao Bingling had given him, swinging his arms and sending the two swords slashing down in perfect arcs from top to bottom, left and right, toward his head!

A flash of light!

The blade slashed down at an even faster speed, wedging itself firmly between the two swords. The extraordinary strength of the two men caused the two weapons to violently crush each other, and the point of impact began to turn a high-temperature red!

Because of the force applied, their faces were now very close together.

“Well!!!!”

“Aaaaaah!!”

Jinwu suddenly “collapsed,” deliberately slipping to free himself from the point of pressure from his opponent. The deadly blade flashed with a bright, clear light, and struck Yao Bingling’s jaw from below.

Yao Bing slammed into the ground and took a step back. Two sword lights flashed across the front of his nose, leaving two bloody marks. The severed hair that had flown out was particularly conspicuous.

He turned his blade and thrust, which Jinwu parried with his single sword. He then spun around and leaped upside down in a lotus-blooming kick, kicking Yao Bingling three times on the blade, forcing Yao Bingling to retreat step by step.

The moment they landed, Jinwu swung his sword and chased after them. Similarly, Yao Bingling also unleashed a series of bright blades at absolute speed to meet the attack!

Sparks flew as the relentless, unstoppable strikes continued. In the blink of an eye, the three weapons in the hands of the two men clashed more than ten times, sparks flying from the blades and swords.

During this time, the two changed positions at high speed, not only wielding swords but also constantly trying to create obstacles for each other with their bodies.

The moment Yao Bingling blocked the opponent with his slashing sword, he threw a punch at Jinwu’s face, but Jinwu had the same idea and swept his leg towards his lower body.

Yao Bing was swept to the ground and knocked down. Jin Wu was knocked back. Then they pounced on each other again and fought. The swords and shadows they swung were so dazzling that they could only be seen as afterimages!

Their fight was completely devoid of any techniques or even any particular fighting style.

This is natural. Jinwu’s swordsmanship is a killing sword technique he comprehended after countless battles in his distant past. Yao Bingling’s knife skills, although taught by his father, were actually practical knife techniques inherited from his father, Yao Bingling’s grandfather, with some of his own insights and modifications. Similarly, this knife technique underwent a lot of modifications after it came into Yao Bingling’s hands, making it impossible to tell what the original knife technique was.

If you really want to put it that way, this was essentially a duel between two self-created killing swords and cleavers!

“Rip~”

The fierce exchange of blows ended, with both men forced back several steps by the opponent’s final strike!

Their exchange of blows lasted less than fifteen seconds, with over a hundred strikes in between. The transition from extreme stillness to extreme dynamism was seamless, much like a moment ago a cheerful greeting: “Hello, have you eaten?” followed by a ferocious slap as someone pulls out a shotgun, shouts “Die!” and fires a bullet into the other’s face.

The two quickly moved apart, still holding their swords and maintaining a defensive posture, like two statues. If there were an observer present, it would be easy to get the illusion that they hadn’t moved at all.

A drop of blood slid down the alluring blade of Yao Bingling’s Embroidered Spring Blade, falling to the ground with a scorching heat like molten iron falling into a sponge.

Jinwu stared silently at his chest, where a bright red bloodstain had been slashed open in a domineering “one” shape, completely tearing through his skin and muscles and leaving an indelible mark on his hard bones!

In those fifteen seconds, Jinwu and Yao Bingling exchanged a total of 159 blows, and his injury occurred during Yao Bingling’s 150th blow.

He vaguely remembered the name of that sword technique based on Yao Bingling’s memories of his experiences, or perhaps it was the original sword technique before he modified it: “Tenka Ichimonji” from the “Hokushin Ittō-ryū”.

The unfolding of that slash felt to him like a gust of wind being cut, yet it was also like a wall blocking his way, leaving him no way to avoid it. The killing intent carried by that slash was so intense it was suffocating.

This was the result of Yao Bingling’s merciless killing, but just as he showed no mercy, so did Jinwu!

Yao Bingling was holding the knife in his left hand, while his right wrist was also covered in blood. He was injured on the 155th strike. Jinwu’s diagonal slash almost severed the artery and tendons in Yao Bingling’s right hand. After that, he could not switch hands to hold the knife. He continued to strike with Jinwu four times with his injured hand until both of them could no longer withstand the injuries inflicted by the other before stopping.

“What kind of swordsmanship is that? It’s like the military assassination swordsmanship of ancient Chinese battlefields, the Hokushin Itto-ryu of Japan, and Western military swordsmanship. What the hell?! It even includes assassination techniques! Who taught you this kind of monstrous swordsmanship?!”

Jinwu was somewhat annoyed by Yao Bingling’s swordsmanship. That’s right, he saw through Yao Bingling’s swordsmanship… It was actually a hybrid of several killing sword techniques, seemingly incongruous, yet with unexpected ambiguity and unpredictability! The reason he was injured by the opponent’s modified Beichen Yidao-ryu was because he misjudged the follow-up of the sword technique.

,

“My dad calls this a murder knife.”

“Isn’t it a murder weapon or a pig-slaughtering knife?”

Jinwu was quite annoyed by Yao Bingling’s straightforwardness.

“You care? I think a good sword is one that can kill. Besides, isn’t your sword also something you created specifically for killing?”

“…I agree with that.”